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Velma von Tussle

March 04, 2013

Velma von Tussle embodies all that is wrong with the American South in the 1960s. As producer of The Corny Collins Show, Velma will do anything to purge the program of negroes, fatsos, and other species beneath her. She is also of the order of women who misplace hubris in sleeping their way to the top of beauty pageants.

Blondie's Deborah Harry played Velma in the original Hairspray. Linda Hart and Tracie Bennett, among a host of actors, filled Harry's shoes in the Broadway and West End versions. Michelle Pfeiffer also portrayed the perpetually teased bigot for the 2007 movie remake.